Crown rest



J. KANTOR Oct. 3, 1944.

CROWN REST Filed April 12, 194.3

UMP/V575.

Patented Oct. 3, 1944 UNITED STAT CROWN REST James Kantor, Chicago,Ill., assignor to The Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Delaware Application April 12; 1943, Serial No. 482,664 6claims. p (o1. 22e- 86) The present invention relates to improvements inapparatus for applying crowns to containers, particularly |bottles andthe like.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a crown restfor use in connection with crowning apparatus adapted to handle theso-called type of plastic crowns which are now being used instead of themetal type of crown heretofore used in the industry.

As a result of the different type of crown, of the plastic type, it isnecessary to provide a crown rest giving greater clearance to the crownand to the bottle neck. On the other hand, it is necessary to provide acrown. rest having a suitableY diameter when the crown is delivered tothe rest to support the crown in a position to receive the bottle as thebottle and crowning mechanism approach one another.

For the purpose of disclosing my invention, I have illustrated anembodiment thereof in theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is alongitudinal sectional View of so much of the crowning mechanism as isnecessary for illustrating my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View showing more in detailmy improved crown rest, the parts being shown with the container in aposition for the crown to be applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2, showing the crown rest and the crownin a receiving position and a crown'supported thereby;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,showing the mechanism for moving the crown rest in position; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, I provide a stationaryhousing I which is more or less of standard commercial form and whichhousing is provided with a plurality of crowners 2 each of which is thesame construction. Each of the crowners, as it is moved in position overthe receptacle to be crowned, due to its rotary movement, is adapted to.place a crown on the receptacle. Each of the crowning heads 2 comprisesa hollow cylindrical housing 3 carrying, at its upper end, a roller 4adapted to engage a cam 5, stationarily mounted, for verticallyreciprocating the housing 3. The housing 3 operates in a relativelystationary sleeve 6 and carries the mechanism for applying the crown tothe bottle, including the crown rest. Within this housing is arranged ahollow sleeve I adapted to, be moved into its projected :position by acoiled, springl 8 interposed between a shoulder of a co1' lar 9 threadedon the lower end' of the sleeve and a shoulder IIJ within the housing 3.Within this l sleeve is arranged a plunger II adapted to be moved into aprojected position by a coiled springV I2 bearing, at one end, on ananular flangeV holding position, engage beneath a head I6 on i anarrowed neck I'I of the plunger II and at the lower end of this neckI'I is a carn shoulder I 8.

The crown, after having been deposited on the mouth of the bottle, iscrimped around the beady of the bottle by a series of crimping fingersI9 which surround the lower end of the plunger and, after the crown isin position on the bottle,

are adapted to be moved into crimping position beneath the skirt of thecrown through the me dium of a cam 20 on the lower end of sleeve 2I heldwithin the collar 9.

The crown rest 22 may be a separate entity,"l

and is supported upon a pair of downwardly ex`- tending pins 23 screwedinto ears on the' collar" 9 and provided, at their lower ends, withnotches or recesses 24. These .pins project through the openings in thecrown rest 22 and are engaged by `cross pins 25 notched on one side toprovide,

when in releasing position, a clearance for the pins 23. However, whenthese. cross pins 25 'are rotated into engaging position, they engage inthe grooves 24 and thus lock the crown rest in position.

This crown rest is provided with a bottle accommodatng, or bottlereceiving, opening 26 flared, as at 21, for the guidance of the bottleas`- it projects through the opening, and, on its upper face, thecrownrest 22 is provided withl a recess 28 providing an opening between thecrown rest and the collar 9 for the passage thereinto of a crown as itis delivered from the delivery means, preferably in the form of a crownchute.

The crown, when delivered into position, is

adapted to be supported on a pair of segmental supports 29 disposed onopposite sides of the opening 25.

Each of these supports or dogs has its front face concave, as at 3D, tocoincide with the gen-f eral shape of the neck of the bottle and `thefront face vertically is arcuate to provide thenecessary clearanceforrthe bottle portions.V The top of these ears is flattened, as 'atV3|,to provide `a The sleeve 1 is main l crown rest proper when the earsare in their receiving positions. Each ear is mounted on a rotatingshaft 32 journalled in the crown rest 22, the hub 33 of the ear beingpinned on this shaft. The outer end of this shaft carries a bell cranklever, the vertical arm 35 of which has connected thereto a tensionspring 36, the opposite ends of the spring lbeing connected to thesimilar bell crank lever arm of the other crown supporting ear. Theother arm 31 ofthe bell crank lever extends substantially horizontally.noticed that unless the arms 31 are engaged by suitable means forforcing the arms downwardly, the spring 36 will have a tendency. to drawthe arms 35 together at their lower ends, thusxrocking the ears 29upwardly.

These ears 29 are moved into crown-receiving position by means of aspring pressed plungerV` supported in an ear 39 on the collar 9. 'I hisplunger comprises a hollow section 40 having mounted therein af spring4I and a plunger rod section 42 fitting within the section 4.0 andYslotted, as at 43, to receive a pin 44 extending through the sleevedsection 40, The top of the plunger section 42 is adapted to engage ashoulder 45;

on arvertically relatively stationary portion of the crowning head4housing 6. When the parts` are in crown-receiving position, the plungerl42;,k due to its engagement with the shoulder 45i throughv the medium ofthe spring 4|, will, force the sleeve sectionv 40 downwardly intoengagement with the arms 31 thus rocking the ears 2,9,into a positionwhere the shoulder 3| is in a horizontal position and` in a position toreceive a crown, as it is delivered to the crown rest.

In operation, as the housingA 3` descends, the

throat 21 will receive the neckv ofn the bottleA and, with a crown inposition on the`VV crown rest,

the crown will be placed upony the torpoof thebot- With the descent of gthe housing 3, the

outwardly extended ends of the crimping'fingersy |9'to be forced inwardto a smaller diameter by the cam portion 20, thus tightly molding thesoftened crown skirt (softened bypre-,heaw around the crown locking ringof the bottle. YThis entire crowning operation is completed beforecamshoulder |8 engages the bottoms of thedogs AI4 and causes the upper endsof said dogs tofdisengagek V groove I5, thus permittinglthe', entiresleeve 1 assembly freedom to movefurther upward if necessary. When thedogs |4Ydisengage, the main crowning pressure is entirely relieved,

after, which the spring 8 comes into use. The coil springt should notbe'misinterpreted as forcing sleeve 1 downwardly to cause crimping ofIthe t crown, but rather to return Y.the entire sleeve 1 assembly to itslowest position afterV crimping of the crown is accomplished and dogsI4.. arey It is to be` downwardly it carries with it the plungercomprising the sections 40 and 42 so that the rod 42 thereof is movedaway from the shoulder 45 thus releasing the pressure on the plungerand, accordingly, the pressure on the anns 31. This permits the spring36 to rock the arm 35 inwardly so that by the time the crown skirt iscompletely crimped around the bead of the bottle, the ears 29 will havebeen rocked into the position illustrated in Fig. 2. Therefore,sufficient clearance i s provided for the reinforced neck of the bottlepermitting the same to clear the crown rest as the p arts again ascendtoclear the crowner from the bottle after the crown has been securedthereon. This clearance is essential in a strucvture wherein crowns ofthe heated plastic type are adapted to be used. It is to be noted thatthe skirt of the crown is relatively thick and therefore the diameter ofthe crown is somewhat greater than the diameter of the reinforced neckof the bottle. Accordingly, if no provision were made for providingaclearance greater than the diameter of the crown,as the crowner andthebottle are moved apart, the crown support shoulders. 3| would againvengage the crown, eitherstripping the same from the bottle or causingthe bottle, to break. While it is necessary to provide suicientclearance for the` diameter`v of the crown, it is also necessary toprovide guiding means to prevent the bottle, especially the neckthereof, from moving sideways too great an ex,- tent.

As the housing 3 moves upwardly carrying with it the crown rest and thesleeve 9, the plunger rod 42 will again come in contact withthe shoulder45 forcing the plunger downwardly and thus rocking the arms 31 back totheir horizontal position, against the tension of the,y spring 3B, sothat by the time the parts haveagain come to rest, the crown rest earswill be. in a crowningposition, the positionvillustrated in Fig. 3.v

zontal position against the tensionk of the spring 36 is effected bythetplunger section 40 which, inV

' reciprocating support, a crown rest carried at turn, is moved throughthe medium ofthespring 4|.,

I claim4 as my invention: 1. In a crowning machine, incombinationathelower end of said support havingI an opening therethrough to permitpassage of the recepta-I cle to be crowned through said support, means,o on said support for supportinga crownin a position to receive theneck of the receptacleas it passes through said support, and meansfonmoving saidsupporting means to enlarge the opening therethrough toprovide a` greaterYV clearance for the receptacle as it is withdrawn4from said "support and maintaining said` means ini their disengaged fromthe V groove I5. In ay sense, the

dogs I4 lock the entire sleeve 1 assembly to fthe housing 3 while thehousing is moving downpver the bottle during which movement crowning of,

enlargement position during the Withdrawall from lsaid ,support 2. InV acrowning machine, in, combination, a

reciprocatingV support, a crown rest carried atV the lower end of said supporthaving anV open,

ing, therethrough to permit passageof the .receptacle to be crownedthrough saidsupportcrown l supportingsegments Varranged within saidopeming and having shouldersfor, supportinga crown thereon in apositionto-be received by the neck` of the receptacle as it passes,throughsaid open- Y the :bottle is actually done, Vthe sleever.1still'rremaining Ylocked to the housing`3'.

As the housing and sleeve assembly moves` 75,

ing, andmeans for swinging saidisegments ,inanI arc to providera greaterclearance for the neck of the receptacle asit is removed fromthe crowncrown in a position for application to the recepl tacle, and means forswinging said segments to a position to provide an increased clearancefor the receptacle neck after the crown has been applied to saidreceptacle and for maintaining said segments in their swung positionduring the removal of the neck of the receptacle from the crown rest.

4. In a crowning machine, in combination, a reciprocating support, acrown rest carried at the lower end of said support having an openingtherethrough to permit the passage of receptacles to be crowned throughsaid support, a plurality of crown rest segments having crown supportingmeans thereon and Within said opening swingable about a horizontal axisto provide an increased clearance for a receptacle neck, means forswinging said segments into receiving position when said support ismoved to its retracted position, and means for swinging said segmentsinto a clearance position when said support is moved to projectedposition and maintaining said segments in their clearance positionduring the withdrawal of the neck of the receptacle.

5. In a crowning machine, in combination, a reciprocating support, acrown rest carried at the lower end of said support having an openingtherethrough to permit the passage of a receptacle to be crowned throughsaid support, means on said support supporting the crown in position toreceive the neck of the receptacle as it passes through said supportcomprising a plurality of segments fitting within said opening, each ofsaid segments having an arcuate shape both horizontally and verticallyand having a shoulder at its top for receiving the crown, means forswinging said segments to move said shoulder out of a horizontalposition after the crown has been applied to the receptacle, and meansfor swing-` ing said segments with the shoulder in a horizontal positionwhen the reciprocating support is in its retracted and crown-receivingposition and for maintaining said shoulder out of horizontal positionduring the withdrawal of the neck of the receptacle.

6. In a crowning machine, in combination, a reciprocating support, acrown rest carried at the lower end of said support having an openingtherethrough to permit the passage of the receptacle to be crownedthrough said support, a plurality of crown rest segments arranged withinsaid opening, means for pivotally supporting said segments to swing on ahorizontal axis, each of said sections being arcuate both vertically andhorizontally, a bell crank lever connected to each of said segments, aspring connecting the depending arms of said levers for biasing theminto a rocked position, and means for engaging the other arms of saidlevers for moving the segments in the opposite direction against thetension of said spring, said means being operated byI the reciprocatingmovement of said support.

JAMES KANTOR.

